Flushing device.



N P. P. HAWKINS.

FLUSHING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED PEB.2, 1911.

Patented Jan. 9; 1912 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ZV i'nesses:

g Inventor A. itarn ea F. P. HAWKINS.

FLUSHING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED PEB.2, 1911.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor COLUMBIA'ILANOGHAIH c0.. WASHINGTON 114 c.

FRANCIS. r. HAWKINS, OF'TROY, NEW YORK.

FLUSHING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

Application filed February 2, 1911. Serial No. 606,129.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS F. HAW- KINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Troy, Rensselaer county, New York, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements in Flushing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to flushing devices for furnishing an intermittent supply of liquid for flushing, scouring or like purposes. It is particularly adapted to flush tanks used inconnection with water closets, hoppers, latrines and the like.

In former patents granted to me on July 19, 1909, #927,796, and on Jan. 11, 1910, #946,130, are shown flushing devices in many respects similar to that shown herein.

The object of my present invention is to improve on my former devices by providing means for automatically discharging air which may accumulate in the tank, for facilitating the manual control of the discharge valve, and for permitting a small amount of liquid to pass directly through the valve without entering the tank.

Further objects of my invention will appear in this specification and be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of a flush tank embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same tank; Fig. 3 is a partial front elevation on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4 is a partial vertical section through the plane 4-4, Fig. 1; Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical sections of two difierent forms of a four-way valve, the section being taken on the plane 56 of Fig. 1.

11 designates a closed tank of approximately semi-circular form, having a plane front wall 12 and a curved wall 13 forming an arc of 180 with short tangential exten-. sions.

14 is a stationary partition to which is pivoted at the center of the arc of the wall 13, a movable partition or shutter 15 having a sliding fit within the walls of the tank. On each side of the shutter 15 is a plug 16, which may be of rubber or the like.

Exterior of the tank 11 and adjacent the front wall 12 is a' four-way valve 17 to.

which is connected an inlet pipe18, which, as shown, extends rearwardly over the top wall 19 of the tank, and leads to a street main, elevated tank, or other source of water under pressure; an outlet pipe 20 leading to a closet bowl or the like; and two branch pipes 21, 22, leading into the tank, one at each side of the partition 14, and so positioned that their open ends within the tank are eachclosable. by one of the plugs 16. Fast on the stem 23 of the valve 17 is a four-tooth ratchet wheel 24, the teeth 25 of which are engageable with a pawl 26, actuated by a spring 27, and pivoted on a plate 28, which is also pivotally mounted on the valve stem 23. The plate 28, clearly shown in Fig. 3, has a sector portion 29, of relatively short radius, and formed with peripheral gear teeth 30; and a second sector portion 31, of longer radius, and having gear teeth 32, the plane of the portion 31 being rearward .of that of the portion 29, for a purpose to be hereafter described. Pivoted on a stud 33 on the wall 12 is a lever 34, consisting of a sector 35 formed with teeth 36, adapted to mesh with the teeth 32; and a bar 37 carrying a segment 38 having teeth 39, adapted to mesh with the teeth 30, the bar and segment being forward of the sector 35 to secure the proper engagement of theteeth. Stops 40, 41, on the wall 12 serve to limit the movement of the lever 34. A chain 42 is secured to the lever 34 for drawing it downward manually, a spring 43 serving to return it to the position shown in Fig. 3. The top wall 19 of the tank is formed with a boss 44, in the upper face of which is a nut 45, in which plays a set-screw 46 having an exterior milled head 47. The screw 46 is adapted to raise and lower a plate 48, which has a sliding fit within the boss 44, so that the plate can be brought down to the plane of the top wall 19 or raised thereabove, see Fig. 4. In the top wall 19 of the tank is an aperture 49, in which is screwed a nipple 50, with which engages a check-valve 51, having a disk 52, the upper end of the valve being connected by a nipple 53 and T 54 to the liquid inlet pipe 18.

It is sometimes desirable that the fourway valve 17, in addition to its function, to be hereafter described, should permit a limited volume of water to pass directly from the inlet pipe 18 to the discharge pipe 20. To secure this result, I have shown in Fig. 5 a valve blade 55 slightly narrower than the water ways to which the pipes 18-and 20 are respectively connected; and in Fig. 6 I have shown a valve blade 56 formed with a transverse passage 57. In both cases, a momentary short circuit will be caused between the pipes 18 and 20 as the valve blade passes from its full line position as shown, to its next operative position at a right angle therewith.

The operation of the device will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawings, it being premised that the rachet wheel 24 is so set on the valve stem 23 that when the parts are in the position shown, z. 6., with one of the teeth 25 engaged with the pawl 26, the valve blade will stand at 45 from a horizontal plane, and will connect the inlet pipe 18 with a branch pipe 21, and the other branch pipe 22 with the discharge pipe 20, or vice versa. If then, the parts being in the positions shown, the chain 42 is pulled down, either manually or by any well known automatic means, not shown, the gear teeth 36 on the lever 34 engaging with the teeth 32 on the plate 29 will act, through the pawl 26 and ratchet teeth 25 to start the rotation of the valve blade. As the upper toot-h 36 disengages from the corresponding tooth 32, the teeth 39 on the segment 38 begin to mesh with the teeth 30 on the segment 29, thus quickly completing the quarter rotation of the valve, further movement being prevented by the stop 41. When the chain is released, the spring 43 returns the parts 34 and 28 to the position shown, the pawl 26 engagingwith the next tooth 25 on the ratchet wheel 24. The inlet pipe 18 is now connected with the branch pipe 22, and the water under pressure passing therethrough forces the shutter 15 to the right of Fig. 1 and expels the water, assumed to have remained in the tank from a previous operation, through branch pipe 21 and discharge pipe 20. If the plate 48 in boss 44 has been raised, as shown in Fig. 4, it is obvious that while the shutter 15 is passing under the boss a considerable volume of water will flow past the shutter, thus materially increasing the effective capacity of the tank.-

It is' also clear that one of the plugs 16 is now closing the end of the branch pipe 21, and that the next pulling down of the chain 42 will return the valve blade to the posi: tion shown, discharging the water through branch pipe 22. I

Thus far, except as to the double movement of the valve stem, the construction and operation of the device are like those shown in my former Patent #946,130. In the practical operation of the device of that patent it was found that considerable force was required to start the movement of the valve, while at the same time a rapid movement of the shutter was desirable. My present device, which employs a compound lever of the second class to initiate the rotation and a compound lever of the third class to complete it, secures both these results. It has also appeared in practice that by reason of the discharge pipe 20 being open to the air at its lower end, that pipe and the side of the four-way valve with which it is temporarily connected fill with air, and that the air in the valve is admitted to the tank when the valve is turned. The air so accumulating in the tank becomes highly compressed, at times to 150 lbs. pressure when the service pressure was at 50 lbs, and so as to endanger the tank. To overcome this difliculty, I have connected the top of the tank with the service or inlet pipe 18 by the check-valve 51, already described. Normally, 2'. 6., except when the pressure in the tank 11 exceeds that in the inlet pipe 18, this valve is inoperative. When, however, air is compressed in the tank as described the disk 52 lifts, and the air escapes into the pipe 18. To prevent this air from being trapped in the pipe 18, which would stop the flow of water therethrough, I provide means, either the narrow valve blade 55 of Fig. 5 or the apertured blade of Fig. 6, for permitting a momentary rush of water direotly from the pipe 18 to the pipe 20. This effectually carries off the small volume of air in the pipe 18 down through the pipe 20 to the closet bowl or the like.

It is obvious that many mechanical changes may be made in my device without departing from the spirit of my invention; and that parts of the device may be advantageously used without the others. Thus it will be seen that the means for imparting a double movement to the valve is quite independent both of the means for permitting an escape of air from the tank, and of the short-circuiting valve blade; and that the last named feature would be functionless, except as adding slightly to the volume of water discharged, where the inlet pipe rose in a substantially vertical direction to a house supply tank, which was open to the air.

What I claim is:

1. In a flushing device, a, tank; an inlet pipe extending above said tank; and a check valve for permitting a flow of fluid 'from the upper part of said tank into said 2. In a flushing device, a closed tank; an inlet pipe and a discharge pipe connected to said tank; and an independent connection between said tank and said inlet pipe provided with means for preventing a flow of liquid from said pipe to said tank and for permitting a flow of fluid from said tank to said pipe when the pressure in said tank exceeds that in said pipe.

3. Inca flushing device, a closed tank; an inlet and a discharge pipe connected to said tank; an independent connection between said tank and said inlet pipe; and a check valve in said connection for preventing a flow of liquid from said pipe to said tank having its and for permitting a flow of fluid from said tank to said pipe when the pressure in said tank exceeds that in said pipe.

4. In a flushing device; a closed tank; an inlet pipe connected to said tank; a discharge pipe also connected to said tank and free end open to the atmosphere; and an independent connection between the top of said tank and said inlet pipe pro- Vided with means for preventing a flow of liquid from said pipe to said tank and for permitting a flow of air from said tank to said pipe when the pressure in said tank exceeds that in said pipe.

5. In a flushing device, a four-way valve; an inlet and a discharge pipe connected to said valve; and a rotary valve blade in said valve constructed and fitted to permit a momentary direct connection between said inlet and discharge pipes during its rotation.

6. In a flushing device; a closed tank; an inlet pipe; a discharge pipe; a four-way valve to which both said pipes are connected; branch pipes connecting said valve with said tank; an independent connection between the top of said tank and said inlet pipe provided wlth means for preventing a Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the flow of liquid from said pipe to said tank and for permitting a flow of air from said tank to said pipe when the pressure in said tank exceeds that in said pipe; and means in said valve for permitting a momentary direct connection between said inlet and said discharge pipe during the rotation of said valve.

7. In aflushing device; a closed tank; an inlet pipe; a discharge pipe; a four-way valve to which both said pipes are connected; branch pipes connecting said Valve with said tank; an independent connection between the top of said tank and said inlet pipe provided with means for preventing a flow of liquid from said pipe to said tank and for permitting a flow of air from said tank to said pipe when the pressure in said tank exceeds that in said pipe; and a rotary valve blade in said valve constructed and fitted to permit a momentary direct connection between said inlet and discharge pipes during its rotation.

FRANCIS F. HAWKINS.

Witnesses:

GEO. L. COOPER, WM. W. MORRILL.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

